Signed a year ago but effective immediately! New York has just become to first state to implement broad, mandatory right-to-repair legislation for consumer products. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, if you can't fix what you bought, you don't own it. If you buy an item but aren't allowed to repair it, because of parts pairing, bricking or any number of nefarious techniques that companies have imposed on tech products in recent years, it's not yours. It never was. Here's looking at you, Apple, Tesla, John Deere and friends. New Yorkers now own what they buy! Mostly. Barring products not on the retail market or electronics purchased before July 1, 2024.
As if by some miracle, the issue of right-to-repair seems to be nonpartisan. It's pretty much agreed on that consumers should have the outright ability repair the products that they own. If someone buys a bike, a cabinet or a haunted porcelain doll, they should be able to do whatever they want with it, be it decorate, incinerate, desecrate or, gasp, fix! Most people seem to agree on this, but the fight for the right to repair has been a slow one, full of bureaucracy, molasses and fancy corporate lawyers with nice hats.
New Yorkers fought hard for this legislation against the powers-that-be. Fight to repair is a consumer rights issue that seems to be, frankly, a no-brainer. While the bill allows some majors concessions that disappointed consumer advocates, it's still a huge milestone in implementing nationwide consumer rights reform.
Here's hoping for a domino effect!
Fight to Repair has more
